This is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart, as I am pretty much always on the stupid side of them... in recent memory, I don't even remember the time when I was on the winning side... don't get me wrong, it's not that I have never won a hand coming from behind, but when my money goes in, I am generally aheads... sometimes i might only be slightly ahead, but ahead still... you get the picture...
But most often, I lose only when I am being handed one bad beat after another by the poker gods... and I don't complain that much about em as long as they happen once every 7-8 hands... but when they start happening every other hand or more importantly every key hand, I just blow a gasket... not in a going on tilt kind of way, but just being furious...
So, the question is what do you do when that happens... cuz, the problem is that if you are a half decent poker player, you will always be on the recieveing end and never on the giving end of stupid bad beats... I guess in a sense you can consider that as a compliment to your poker playing ability, but quite frankly I don't give a f**k about compliments when it comes to poker... all I care about is my bank roll and that it continues to grow...
So far in my short poker career, I have not come across any proven strategy to deal with them... some say yoga, or just go walk around for a bit before you start playing again... others say that the only real way to get over a bad beat is to hand it to someone else as well... but I don't think that is something that is actually in your control.... my personal half-baked solution is to just take it in stride and b*tch and curse in private if you must... take some time off from the game till you are mentally ready to start playing again...
Do you have any good technique ? would love to hear from anyone who has anything to offer... please leave a comment or two if you get a chance...
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Playing the Drunk Maniac on his Lucky Day
Went to AC this weekend, and once again had a very long poker session... playing straight for 24-25 hours is an experience unlike any other, and I am happy to find out that I don't get as tired as you would think... may be I have chance to play in the WSOP some day...
There was a guy at our table that had the luckiest streak I have ever seen so far... (don't ask me why I didn't switch tables, probably should have at some point... but there was easy money on that table also...)
Anyway, this guy was drunk and raised every hand for about 7-8 hours... and I am not kidding... he would raise it pre-flop, bet about 75% of those hands on the flop and the turn, and pretty much move all-in on the river on about 60-70% of the hands he was in... what's surprising you ask... ? the surprising (and while it was happening, very frustrating) part is that he would always have the nuts... or close to that... and I am not talking just flush draws and straight draws coming through... I am talking hands like this...
the guy raises from middle position
flop comes A , K, 8 rainbow
he bets pot
turn comes 4 (making a flush possible)
he bets 50+% of the pot
river comes 6 (no flush)
he bets pot
now the other guy in this hand was a very conservative player and was calling his bets... pretty much everyone on the table knew he had atleast two pair or probably a set on the flop... so he calls... the lucky, drunk guy flips over 5-7 off-suit.... don't ask me how....
and this was just one example...
another hand...
on a board of A-Q-7, he pushes all in... one guy calls with his A-7... the drunk guy has Q-5 in his hand... guess what the turn and the river were... 5 and yes, another 5...
so anyway, this guy keeps making stupid bets and calls all night long, and kept getting lucky pretty much everytime... I called him with some good hands but the flops were just not coming my way... I kept thinking to myself, how long can this possibly go on... after all, how long can one person defy mathematics and laws of statistics...
and so he would raise, I would call with what seemed like a very good hand at the time, A-Q, A-J, A-10 suited, 9-9, J-J.... whatever.... but nothing, I was down almost $500 at one point without losing more than $15-20 in any particular hand against that guy... and for a while I kept on trying playing good poker against him... and was getting baffled as to why I just kept losing against him...
but then, I realized something that is actually obvious and I guess pretty much everyone knows it, but you forget it in the heat of the battle...
poker, has a factor of luck in it, a big factor... and the difference between a good player and a very good player is that the very good one knows when to get out of the way of a falling tree and just lay low for a while... after all, there are always other people on the table who are weak and you can simply play against them and make the night profitable...
so, lesson for the future... if you are up against a lucky, drunk guy... stay out of his way... poker is not a game of going head on against the biggest raging bull you find... it's a game of trampling little sheep that are always around....
There was a guy at our table that had the luckiest streak I have ever seen so far... (don't ask me why I didn't switch tables, probably should have at some point... but there was easy money on that table also...)
Anyway, this guy was drunk and raised every hand for about 7-8 hours... and I am not kidding... he would raise it pre-flop, bet about 75% of those hands on the flop and the turn, and pretty much move all-in on the river on about 60-70% of the hands he was in... what's surprising you ask... ? the surprising (and while it was happening, very frustrating) part is that he would always have the nuts... or close to that... and I am not talking just flush draws and straight draws coming through... I am talking hands like this...
the guy raises from middle position
flop comes A , K, 8 rainbow
he bets pot
turn comes 4 (making a flush possible)
he bets 50+% of the pot
river comes 6 (no flush)
he bets pot
now the other guy in this hand was a very conservative player and was calling his bets... pretty much everyone on the table knew he had atleast two pair or probably a set on the flop... so he calls... the lucky, drunk guy flips over 5-7 off-suit.... don't ask me how....
and this was just one example...
another hand...
on a board of A-Q-7, he pushes all in... one guy calls with his A-7... the drunk guy has Q-5 in his hand... guess what the turn and the river were... 5 and yes, another 5...
so anyway, this guy keeps making stupid bets and calls all night long, and kept getting lucky pretty much everytime... I called him with some good hands but the flops were just not coming my way... I kept thinking to myself, how long can this possibly go on... after all, how long can one person defy mathematics and laws of statistics...
and so he would raise, I would call with what seemed like a very good hand at the time, A-Q, A-J, A-10 suited, 9-9, J-J.... whatever.... but nothing, I was down almost $500 at one point without losing more than $15-20 in any particular hand against that guy... and for a while I kept on trying playing good poker against him... and was getting baffled as to why I just kept losing against him...
but then, I realized something that is actually obvious and I guess pretty much everyone knows it, but you forget it in the heat of the battle...
poker, has a factor of luck in it, a big factor... and the difference between a good player and a very good player is that the very good one knows when to get out of the way of a falling tree and just lay low for a while... after all, there are always other people on the table who are weak and you can simply play against them and make the night profitable...
so, lesson for the future... if you are up against a lucky, drunk guy... stay out of his way... poker is not a game of going head on against the biggest raging bull you find... it's a game of trampling little sheep that are always around....
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Tournament Play
Playing big slick out of position against a big stack or the second biggest stack in case you are the big stack, is tricky business... play it very carefully...
I suggest the following...
1- don't raise... cuz if you do and he re-raises, you are screwed... you can't fold... and he might have cowboys or worse bullets... and you are out of position...
2- call the hand down if you hit an A or K... no need to play aggressive against the one person on the table who can really hurt you...
3- remember, in tournaments, your focus is on the small stacks and the weaker players... stay clear of the top 3 stacks as long as possible...
I suggest the following...
1- don't raise... cuz if you do and he re-raises, you are screwed... you can't fold... and he might have cowboys or worse bullets... and you are out of position...
2- call the hand down if you hit an A or K... no need to play aggressive against the one person on the table who can really hurt you...
3- remember, in tournaments, your focus is on the small stacks and the weaker players... stay clear of the top 3 stacks as long as possible...
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
What is a "Good" Poker Player ?
Poker is a fascinating game... if i had infinite amounts of money, i would play every hand and try to out play everyone on the table... every pot would be mine unless you have the nuts or you are willing to go all the way to the end to wrestle it out of my hands...
unfortunately, no one has infinte amounts of money... and that's not the point of poker anyway... calculating odds, making good reads and then trusting your instincts, patience, discipline, guts to pull the trigger... all of these combine to form the "good" poker player... and what does the good player do with all of these qualities ?
1- Create a table image of unpredictable aggression...
2- Wait for the right opportunities to exploit...
and then
3- Exploit the hell out of those opportunities when they present themselves...
on most days, most good players can do at least 2 out of 3 fairly well... and some days, they do all 3 really well...
so here's the rule from now on...
Spot weak players... and attack them mostly...
Spot strong players... and play back at them once or twice, so they back off...
Do not back away from gambles when you are ahead... even if you are not that far ahead...
unfortunately, no one has infinte amounts of money... and that's not the point of poker anyway... calculating odds, making good reads and then trusting your instincts, patience, discipline, guts to pull the trigger... all of these combine to form the "good" poker player... and what does the good player do with all of these qualities ?
1- Create a table image of unpredictable aggression...
2- Wait for the right opportunities to exploit...
and then
3- Exploit the hell out of those opportunities when they present themselves...
on most days, most good players can do at least 2 out of 3 fairly well... and some days, they do all 3 really well...
so here's the rule from now on...
Spot weak players... and attack them mostly...
Spot strong players... and play back at them once or twice, so they back off...
Do not back away from gambles when you are ahead... even if you are not that far ahead...
Monday, October 15, 2007
4th best Full Houses and 2nd best Flushes
Full Houses
On the river when you make a Full house that is not the best full house, never raise... in fact, any time when you have the 3rd or 4th best Full house, don't raise, just call... Why ?
because if you raise and the other person moves all-in, you have no choice but to call... even though you know you might be beat or even if you know you are probably beat... why else would that person raise ?
in all reality, all you can beat at that point is a "pure" bluff... and by that i mean the flush or the straight... for example...
$1-2 NL table at the Borgata, with Q-9 of spades in the big blind, i call middle position's standard raise ($12)...
flop comes Kc-Qh-7c... he checks, i check...
turn come 9c, making a fulsh draw on the board... not to mention the possible straight...
he checks again, i bet $15... he calls...
river comes another 9... he bets $20...
my gut told me not to raise, after all, he will only call or raise if he has me beat, so there is no more money for me to win there... but i had been card dead for a while and wanted to make some money... i raise to $60...
before i had finished putting chips in, he moves all-in... i had about $100 left and he has me covered... i have to call now...
what beats me... K-K, Q-Q, K-9... so i call...
he flips over K-K...
the point is, i can only win his last bet... if he has the straight or the flush or the A-9, he is not calling a raise... what am i hoping for, he has 9-7 or that he is stupid enough to call a raise with the straight or the flush ?
so... on the river, if you have the 3rd or 4th best boat, just call...
Flushes
here's the situation... same table, same stakes... i am in the big blind...
button raises to $12 (he had been raising his button pretty much every time...)
small blind calls... (he's been playing tight but has been getting frustrated for a while now)
i call with 10-9 spades...
flop comes A-K-J all spades!
small blind bets $20... i "reluctantly" call...
button raises to $80... small blind instantly moves all-in with $350...
i have around $450... just getting back to even after that stupid full house disaster... button has about $200 left, so if i call he might call as well... what do they have.... ?
Worst case - one has a set/two pair, the other has a pair with Qs as kicker... so, if they both call, i have to avoid the boat as well as a spade...
7 outs on the turn for the guy with the set... 10 outs on the river... i.e. if anything pairs, i am done... about 35% for him... 7 outs twice for the guy with the Qs to make the nut flush... about 30%... so there is a 35% chance my hand will hold... i am actually an underdog against two opponents combined... (35% Me vs. 65% Them)
if one guy has two pair instead of a set, he has 4 outs twice... about 18-19%... and the other guy has Qs, i am even money / very slight favorite to win this hand... (50+% Me vs. 45+% Them)
if one has a set and the other have two pair or both have sets... i am a 4-1 favorite at least, depending on what set and what two pair they have... but no combination has more than 20% chance to improve in that situation... (80% Me vs. 20% Them)
In short, anything but the worst case scenario, i am at least even money or a huge favorite... of course i could be drawing dead... so basically, this is the classic A-K facing a re-raise pre-flop scenario.... do you go all-in ? or do you wait for a better spot ?
I don't know... I chose to fold in this situation... You can't lose what you don't put in the middle...
I am beginning to realize that you don't win much either....
On the river when you make a Full house that is not the best full house, never raise... in fact, any time when you have the 3rd or 4th best Full house, don't raise, just call... Why ?
because if you raise and the other person moves all-in, you have no choice but to call... even though you know you might be beat or even if you know you are probably beat... why else would that person raise ?
in all reality, all you can beat at that point is a "pure" bluff... and by that i mean the flush or the straight... for example...
$1-2 NL table at the Borgata, with Q-9 of spades in the big blind, i call middle position's standard raise ($12)...
flop comes Kc-Qh-7c... he checks, i check...
turn come 9c, making a fulsh draw on the board... not to mention the possible straight...
he checks again, i bet $15... he calls...
river comes another 9... he bets $20...
my gut told me not to raise, after all, he will only call or raise if he has me beat, so there is no more money for me to win there... but i had been card dead for a while and wanted to make some money... i raise to $60...
before i had finished putting chips in, he moves all-in... i had about $100 left and he has me covered... i have to call now...
what beats me... K-K, Q-Q, K-9... so i call...
he flips over K-K...
the point is, i can only win his last bet... if he has the straight or the flush or the A-9, he is not calling a raise... what am i hoping for, he has 9-7 or that he is stupid enough to call a raise with the straight or the flush ?
so... on the river, if you have the 3rd or 4th best boat, just call...
Flushes
here's the situation... same table, same stakes... i am in the big blind...
button raises to $12 (he had been raising his button pretty much every time...)
small blind calls... (he's been playing tight but has been getting frustrated for a while now)
i call with 10-9 spades...
flop comes A-K-J all spades!
small blind bets $20... i "reluctantly" call...
button raises to $80... small blind instantly moves all-in with $350...
i have around $450... just getting back to even after that stupid full house disaster... button has about $200 left, so if i call he might call as well... what do they have.... ?
Worst case - one has a set/two pair, the other has a pair with Qs as kicker... so, if they both call, i have to avoid the boat as well as a spade...
7 outs on the turn for the guy with the set... 10 outs on the river... i.e. if anything pairs, i am done... about 35% for him... 7 outs twice for the guy with the Qs to make the nut flush... about 30%... so there is a 35% chance my hand will hold... i am actually an underdog against two opponents combined... (35% Me vs. 65% Them)
if one guy has two pair instead of a set, he has 4 outs twice... about 18-19%... and the other guy has Qs, i am even money / very slight favorite to win this hand... (50+% Me vs. 45+% Them)
if one has a set and the other have two pair or both have sets... i am a 4-1 favorite at least, depending on what set and what two pair they have... but no combination has more than 20% chance to improve in that situation... (80% Me vs. 20% Them)
In short, anything but the worst case scenario, i am at least even money or a huge favorite... of course i could be drawing dead... so basically, this is the classic A-K facing a re-raise pre-flop scenario.... do you go all-in ? or do you wait for a better spot ?
I don't know... I chose to fold in this situation... You can't lose what you don't put in the middle...
I am beginning to realize that you don't win much either....
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Final Table of the 2007 WSOP
If you haven't seen the final table play yet, I suggest that you do right away. It has to be one of the worst games I have ever seen. The champ is an over-betting calling station who got lucky like no one's business. I don't know what prayers he was using and what the other guys were drinking, but they were just handing him money. I would love to play this guy for some serious cash. This just goes on to show that luck has such a huge affect on any given day. I personally think that they should change the format of the final table at the WSOP, some way to neutralize the luck factor somewhat. I mean, this guy Yang has to be one of the worst players I have seen. He keeps over betting with J-10, K-8, A-x... and keeps calling re-raises and keeps getting lucky... Poker can be disgustingly luck-oriented sometimes.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Tells
This is a topic that will be of interest forever, and it will always be evolving as people discover more and more tells... not to mention the fact that as players get better and better, they start faking them... so far, i have discovered the following tells from personal experience...
Strength
1- if someone starts making odd bets i.e. non- round numbers e.g. 1,475 or 2,150... they are definitely strong... they have something very close to the nuts and will call an all-in bet... so go ahead and put them all-in if you have the nuts... otherwise fold...
2- after making a bet, if someone starts looking around for their drink or the waitress or simply is not paying attention to what you are doing, they definitely have a strong hand and will call an all-in bet... conversely, if they start doing that before they bet or before you have bet, they are about to fold... it just shows that they have already made up their mind... obviously if they bet and have made up their mind, they are strong...
3- when people start breathing heavy, it's because their heart is beating fast which generally means that they have a strong hand... you'll know it when you see it, you'll see their chest rise significantly at a fairly high pace... same as shaky hands...
4- if someone keeps checking their hole cards, they have a monster...
5- minimum raise i.e. twice the blind or twice the amount you bet... is almost always a tell of strength...
6- going absolutely quiet is a tell of strength for most people... but beware, it is the easiest to fake also, so you need to know your opponent...
7- if someone slides their chips in very quietly as if you almost didn't notice that they raised, they are strong... but probably not too strong... they have a good hand but they are afraid of something...
8- if someone is eating food and they play a hand, they are generally strong...
Weakness
1- Someone starts talking too much... they are generally weak... accept for pros like Jamie Gold or Negraenu, who can talk at anytime....
2- Someone puts in their chips forcefully, that means they have something decent, but definitely not the nuts or close to that... for example, if there is a straight and/or flush on the board, they don't have it... they might have a set or a two-pair...
3- Someone splashes the pot, they are generally not that strong... but beware, that person is probably on tilt and will call an all-in bet out of spite...
4- When someone keeps staring at the flop or somewhere on the table but is not willing to look at you, they are afraid of something... they might have a medium pocket-pair with one or two over cards on the board...
5- when someone tries to stare you down... they are not that strong... a good idea is to ask them how many chips they have left... that'll generally make them blush or their shoulders will drop a little which is definitely a tell of weakness... that doesn't mean that they are ready to fold just yet, they might call one bet... but they will probably not call the second bet... i.e. they bet the flop (and stare at you), you raise (after asking them to count their chips)... they'll probably call... they'll check the turn, if you bet a medium amount (say 30-40% of the pot) they'll probably fold...
Strength
1- if someone starts making odd bets i.e. non- round numbers e.g. 1,475 or 2,150... they are definitely strong... they have something very close to the nuts and will call an all-in bet... so go ahead and put them all-in if you have the nuts... otherwise fold...
2- after making a bet, if someone starts looking around for their drink or the waitress or simply is not paying attention to what you are doing, they definitely have a strong hand and will call an all-in bet... conversely, if they start doing that before they bet or before you have bet, they are about to fold... it just shows that they have already made up their mind... obviously if they bet and have made up their mind, they are strong...
3- when people start breathing heavy, it's because their heart is beating fast which generally means that they have a strong hand... you'll know it when you see it, you'll see their chest rise significantly at a fairly high pace... same as shaky hands...
4- if someone keeps checking their hole cards, they have a monster...
5- minimum raise i.e. twice the blind or twice the amount you bet... is almost always a tell of strength...
6- going absolutely quiet is a tell of strength for most people... but beware, it is the easiest to fake also, so you need to know your opponent...
7- if someone slides their chips in very quietly as if you almost didn't notice that they raised, they are strong... but probably not too strong... they have a good hand but they are afraid of something...
8- if someone is eating food and they play a hand, they are generally strong...
Weakness
1- Someone starts talking too much... they are generally weak... accept for pros like Jamie Gold or Negraenu, who can talk at anytime....
2- Someone puts in their chips forcefully, that means they have something decent, but definitely not the nuts or close to that... for example, if there is a straight and/or flush on the board, they don't have it... they might have a set or a two-pair...
3- Someone splashes the pot, they are generally not that strong... but beware, that person is probably on tilt and will call an all-in bet out of spite...
4- When someone keeps staring at the flop or somewhere on the table but is not willing to look at you, they are afraid of something... they might have a medium pocket-pair with one or two over cards on the board...
5- when someone tries to stare you down... they are not that strong... a good idea is to ask them how many chips they have left... that'll generally make them blush or their shoulders will drop a little which is definitely a tell of weakness... that doesn't mean that they are ready to fold just yet, they might call one bet... but they will probably not call the second bet... i.e. they bet the flop (and stare at you), you raise (after asking them to count their chips)... they'll probably call... they'll check the turn, if you bet a medium amount (say 30-40% of the pot) they'll probably fold...
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Always keep your eyes fixed on the ball...
For those who are not sports fans, let me explain what this means... specially in poker terms...
the phrase means two things to me....
1- just because its not your turn or the ball is not close to you in a soccer field, doesn't mean that you should goof off into lala-land... in fact, you should be paying very close attention to the proceedings... for one thing, it only takes a second for the action to come to you... but also, when you are just watching action and are not part of it, it is easiest to pick up how your opponents play... you have no involvement in that hand, so you can pick subtle things that you might miss in the heat of battle...
2- how many times have you seen a receiver take the perfect catch, and dodge everyone in the field and is almost jogging to the end zone... so often, you can tell that he's planning his victory dance and is not paying attention to his surroundings... and all of a sudden, BAM!... some guy from somewhere just hits him out of nowhere...
when you are on the table, or in the field... Always Keep Your Eyes on the Ball... when you have it in your hand as well as when it seems miles away from you... Keep Your Eyes on the Ball at all times...
why am i talking about balls and eyes... two words, Scotty Nguyen... if you did not see part 14/16 of the 2007 WSOP last night, please do so ASAP... i mean, Matusow is famous for his blow ups... and everyone goes on tilt once in a while but for god's sake... last night was painful... in all reasonability, everyone was gambling as they usually do so close to the final table, and my hero Kenny Tran also got knocked out when he made a bad call, but at least Tran was kinda card dead for a long while before he started getting flustered (not that i consider that to be an excuse, he's a professional isn't he... but i can kinda understand...)
but Scotty... one of my favorite players... went from almost certain to end up amongst the top 4-5 may be even the bracelet winner, to bust in a matter of 10-15 minutes... i mean the man has been playing immaculate poker for almost a week... i haven't seen him make any mistake whatsoever... yeah he caught some cards in some hands, but only cuz the other guy let him... he hadn't put in any bad bets whatsoever... he bluffed perfectly... he called perfectly... he folded perfectly... but something just snapped at the end...
i personally think it was that hand against the other Vietnamese guy that marked the downfall...
the guy had A-8, he raised... Scotty had J-8 in the blind, he called...
the flop came K-J-x, the guy bet Scotty called
the turn came another J, the guy bet Scotty called
river came blank, guy checked, Scotty made a value bet... and the guy folded...
Scotty for the first time in the tournament gets arrogant... don't get me wrong, he's always cocky, every good player is most of the time... but in a good way... not in a demeaning way... poker gods do not like arrogance... they like cockiness with a nice mix of humility... what's the difference ? let me tell you...
in an earlier hand a couple of days ago, Scotty has Q-Q in his hand and flop comes J-J-x...
the pre-flop raiser bets, Scotty calls...
turn comes blank, he puts Scotty all-in... Scotty gets up from the table.... thinks, thinks, thinks... and says something like, "if you got me, you got me baby"and calls... the other guy flips over A-K off suit...
river comes blank...
Scotty goes,"baby, you can out-flop me but you can not out-play me..."
Cocky but humble... beautiful... (i had tears in my eyes...)
in the hand with the Vietnamese guy i was talking about earlier, Scotty gets up and goes, "you f**k with me... you F**K with Scotty..."
Arrogant in my book...
i mean it doesn't take a genius to call with middle pair in the final stages, and then bet with trips... nothing special there, you just had a good hand and you bet it...
but the arrogance, got to him... he blew up so fast, it wasn't funny... even before this hand, he had over 10m in chips, he picked up another 2.5m in this one... there was no need to play anything since there is only 11-12 players left... 10m would have been the average on the final table... in fact, with blinds a 40-80k, if you have 10m in chips and you get hit by a bus and die right there, you will still make to the top 4-5... Stu Ungar had this kind of chips once and he couldn't make it to the final day of a trouney... (he was passed out in his hotel room because of some overdose of something...) he finished 9th (or something like that) in the that tourney...
but Scotty took his eyes of the ball, he wanted to have every one's chips right there... and he got careless... (arrogance generally has that affect on people...)
next hand, he has A-Q some guy has 5-5 and position on Scotty... flop comes Q-5-4... (the gods are angry...!)
Scotty checks, guy checks
turn comes K... Scotty checks again, guy bets, Scotty raises, guy moves all-in.... so many things beat Scotty, plus there is no reason to risk so many chips at this point with nothing but middle pair (the guy had about half as much as Scotty)... Scotty calls in a couple of seconds... he's drawing dead!
one or two hands later... Scotty has K-8 suited (spades)... flop come Q-x-x (two spades)... some guy has pocket 9-9 or something... he bets, Scotty moves all-in.... (WHY ?!) the other guy had Scotty covered... he calls...
the turn comes blank
river comes blank
Scotty is out in 11th or 12th place... what a waste... he was clearly the best player left... a moment of arrogance, a tricky hand, one bad call... you are dead... welcome to no-limit hold'em...
the phrase means two things to me....
1- just because its not your turn or the ball is not close to you in a soccer field, doesn't mean that you should goof off into lala-land... in fact, you should be paying very close attention to the proceedings... for one thing, it only takes a second for the action to come to you... but also, when you are just watching action and are not part of it, it is easiest to pick up how your opponents play... you have no involvement in that hand, so you can pick subtle things that you might miss in the heat of battle...
2- how many times have you seen a receiver take the perfect catch, and dodge everyone in the field and is almost jogging to the end zone... so often, you can tell that he's planning his victory dance and is not paying attention to his surroundings... and all of a sudden, BAM!... some guy from somewhere just hits him out of nowhere...
when you are on the table, or in the field... Always Keep Your Eyes on the Ball... when you have it in your hand as well as when it seems miles away from you... Keep Your Eyes on the Ball at all times...
why am i talking about balls and eyes... two words, Scotty Nguyen... if you did not see part 14/16 of the 2007 WSOP last night, please do so ASAP... i mean, Matusow is famous for his blow ups... and everyone goes on tilt once in a while but for god's sake... last night was painful... in all reasonability, everyone was gambling as they usually do so close to the final table, and my hero Kenny Tran also got knocked out when he made a bad call, but at least Tran was kinda card dead for a long while before he started getting flustered (not that i consider that to be an excuse, he's a professional isn't he... but i can kinda understand...)
but Scotty... one of my favorite players... went from almost certain to end up amongst the top 4-5 may be even the bracelet winner, to bust in a matter of 10-15 minutes... i mean the man has been playing immaculate poker for almost a week... i haven't seen him make any mistake whatsoever... yeah he caught some cards in some hands, but only cuz the other guy let him... he hadn't put in any bad bets whatsoever... he bluffed perfectly... he called perfectly... he folded perfectly... but something just snapped at the end...
i personally think it was that hand against the other Vietnamese guy that marked the downfall...
the guy had A-8, he raised... Scotty had J-8 in the blind, he called...
the flop came K-J-x, the guy bet Scotty called
the turn came another J, the guy bet Scotty called
river came blank, guy checked, Scotty made a value bet... and the guy folded...
Scotty for the first time in the tournament gets arrogant... don't get me wrong, he's always cocky, every good player is most of the time... but in a good way... not in a demeaning way... poker gods do not like arrogance... they like cockiness with a nice mix of humility... what's the difference ? let me tell you...
in an earlier hand a couple of days ago, Scotty has Q-Q in his hand and flop comes J-J-x...
the pre-flop raiser bets, Scotty calls...
turn comes blank, he puts Scotty all-in... Scotty gets up from the table.... thinks, thinks, thinks... and says something like, "if you got me, you got me baby"and calls... the other guy flips over A-K off suit...
river comes blank...
Scotty goes,"baby, you can out-flop me but you can not out-play me..."
Cocky but humble... beautiful... (i had tears in my eyes...)
in the hand with the Vietnamese guy i was talking about earlier, Scotty gets up and goes, "you f**k with me... you F**K with Scotty..."
Arrogant in my book...
i mean it doesn't take a genius to call with middle pair in the final stages, and then bet with trips... nothing special there, you just had a good hand and you bet it...
but the arrogance, got to him... he blew up so fast, it wasn't funny... even before this hand, he had over 10m in chips, he picked up another 2.5m in this one... there was no need to play anything since there is only 11-12 players left... 10m would have been the average on the final table... in fact, with blinds a 40-80k, if you have 10m in chips and you get hit by a bus and die right there, you will still make to the top 4-5... Stu Ungar had this kind of chips once and he couldn't make it to the final day of a trouney... (he was passed out in his hotel room because of some overdose of something...) he finished 9th (or something like that) in the that tourney...
but Scotty took his eyes of the ball, he wanted to have every one's chips right there... and he got careless... (arrogance generally has that affect on people...)
next hand, he has A-Q some guy has 5-5 and position on Scotty... flop comes Q-5-4... (the gods are angry...!)
Scotty checks, guy checks
turn comes K... Scotty checks again, guy bets, Scotty raises, guy moves all-in.... so many things beat Scotty, plus there is no reason to risk so many chips at this point with nothing but middle pair (the guy had about half as much as Scotty)... Scotty calls in a couple of seconds... he's drawing dead!
one or two hands later... Scotty has K-8 suited (spades)... flop come Q-x-x (two spades)... some guy has pocket 9-9 or something... he bets, Scotty moves all-in.... (WHY ?!) the other guy had Scotty covered... he calls...
the turn comes blank
river comes blank
Scotty is out in 11th or 12th place... what a waste... he was clearly the best player left... a moment of arrogance, a tricky hand, one bad call... you are dead... welcome to no-limit hold'em...
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Value Betting on the River
Betting on the river is very complex business... if you have a hand, you wanna extract the most value out it... that's generally one of the the big differences between the good players and the better players... where as i might make 15-20 big blinds with top pair, top kicker, a better player would make 20-25 big blinds... and those extra blinds keep stacking up... the difference is generally the river bet or raise...
the problem is, if you start off with top pair, top kicker and don't improve your hand any further, it is very difficult to assess the strength of your hand at the end... i mean what in god's name was the other guy calling with all along... of course if there were any draws on the board and you were unable to get the guy off his hand on the flop or turn, now you gotta worry about that too... or that he started off chasing a flush or something and ended up making two pair or trips in the process... so i used to generally shut down on the river (unless i decide to bluff...) and leave it up to the poker gods to decide who gets the pot...
but over time, i have realized a few things about betting... as much as it sounds like a good idea to bet when you are ahead, it also has the drawback of semi-revealing your hand to any worthy opponent... you hit top pair, you bet, turn comes blank, bet big and make it expensive for the fish to draw the last card... the only problem is, that this works the first two times... after that everyone catches on to your play, and now they know that you don't have trips or anything and thus you can not stand any heat... you bet on the flop they call, you bet big on the turn and some sick person (like me) raises... now what do you do... do you call ?
if you are playing against any decent player, i can tell you what's coming on the river if you call the raise on the turn... another big bet to make you to twitch and twist... say... about 30-40% of the pot... (are you being bluffed or milked ?)
or, worse, you bet the flop, he calls... you bet the turn, he calls again... river comes "blank", you bet, he raises big... (and now you begin to think he hit a set somewhere or made two pair on the river... or just plain missed the draw and is bluffing... either way, tough decision)
since you were not putting true pressure early on, you have no way to know what to do now... i know betting out right is a good way to put pressure, but it doesn't rattle anyone...
i check...
you bet...
you have a pair... (big deal...!)
you have no clue what i have... (i could be slow playing a monster...)
you get the picture...
so here is what i propose and what i have been doing lately...
raise pre-flop when you have a hand you wanna play...
check-raise the flop or
bet the turn if everyone checks flop... it would bes if someone bets into you on the turn and you get to check-raise...
that would make it much easier for you to bet the river... once you have check-raised the flop or the turn, you are in a much better position to bet the river... you might even get the other person to fold two-pair with your "value" bet...
i know the downside of checking the flop and giving the other person a free card... but trust me, if they are on a draw, they are gonna call at least one bet to see the turn... and if the card they need is going to hit the turn, there is nothing you can do about it...
alternatively, you can use the same free card as a scare tactic against them... if nothing else, now when you bet the turn, they don't know what you have... regardless of what they do now, you'll have a good idea of what they have and you can decide accordingly on the river... the plus side is that since they have no clue what you have, if another scare card comes on the river, you can bluff them pretty easily...
the problem is, if you start off with top pair, top kicker and don't improve your hand any further, it is very difficult to assess the strength of your hand at the end... i mean what in god's name was the other guy calling with all along... of course if there were any draws on the board and you were unable to get the guy off his hand on the flop or turn, now you gotta worry about that too... or that he started off chasing a flush or something and ended up making two pair or trips in the process... so i used to generally shut down on the river (unless i decide to bluff...) and leave it up to the poker gods to decide who gets the pot...
but over time, i have realized a few things about betting... as much as it sounds like a good idea to bet when you are ahead, it also has the drawback of semi-revealing your hand to any worthy opponent... you hit top pair, you bet, turn comes blank, bet big and make it expensive for the fish to draw the last card... the only problem is, that this works the first two times... after that everyone catches on to your play, and now they know that you don't have trips or anything and thus you can not stand any heat... you bet on the flop they call, you bet big on the turn and some sick person (like me) raises... now what do you do... do you call ?
if you are playing against any decent player, i can tell you what's coming on the river if you call the raise on the turn... another big bet to make you to twitch and twist... say... about 30-40% of the pot... (are you being bluffed or milked ?)
or, worse, you bet the flop, he calls... you bet the turn, he calls again... river comes "blank", you bet, he raises big... (and now you begin to think he hit a set somewhere or made two pair on the river... or just plain missed the draw and is bluffing... either way, tough decision)
since you were not putting true pressure early on, you have no way to know what to do now... i know betting out right is a good way to put pressure, but it doesn't rattle anyone...
i check...
you bet...
you have a pair... (big deal...!)
you have no clue what i have... (i could be slow playing a monster...)
you get the picture...
so here is what i propose and what i have been doing lately...
raise pre-flop when you have a hand you wanna play...
check-raise the flop or
bet the turn if everyone checks flop... it would bes if someone bets into you on the turn and you get to check-raise...
that would make it much easier for you to bet the river... once you have check-raised the flop or the turn, you are in a much better position to bet the river... you might even get the other person to fold two-pair with your "value" bet...
i know the downside of checking the flop and giving the other person a free card... but trust me, if they are on a draw, they are gonna call at least one bet to see the turn... and if the card they need is going to hit the turn, there is nothing you can do about it...
alternatively, you can use the same free card as a scare tactic against them... if nothing else, now when you bet the turn, they don't know what you have... regardless of what they do now, you'll have a good idea of what they have and you can decide accordingly on the river... the plus side is that since they have no clue what you have, if another scare card comes on the river, you can bluff them pretty easily...
Monday, October 1, 2007
Weekend in AC
a friend of mine and i went to ac... he called me at 1pm on sat... we are on I-95 at 2:45pm... sat on a 1-2 table in the borgata at approx. 6:30pm... got up from that table at around 5pm on sunday... had a blast, poker is a lot of work and you get exhausted... but man is it fun!
went from about $800 in the hole to being up $1,100... ended up breaking even (actually made $20 or so)... had the best 22-1/2 hours in the world... i am willing to do this job even for $0.90/hour...
i discovered that i have a tell (one of the guys at the table was nice enough to point it out)... i go completely silent when i have the goods... i need to use this information... start talking and stop talking at odd times to throw them off...
went from about $800 in the hole to being up $1,100... ended up breaking even (actually made $20 or so)... had the best 22-1/2 hours in the world... i am willing to do this job even for $0.90/hour...
i discovered that i have a tell (one of the guys at the table was nice enough to point it out)... i go completely silent when i have the goods... i need to use this information... start talking and stop talking at odd times to throw them off...
Thursday, September 27, 2007
The Best Fold in the World... and My Worst Mistake (so far...)
I am generally the kind of player who plays mostly solid... i'll limp in with garbage every once in a while and bluff sometimes, but most often i play solid... generally i like to sucker people into giving their chips to me.... and thus i have no problem folding the better hand once in a while... one of my favorite moments of all times is when Hellmuth said his famous line...
For those of you who don't know what i am talking about, here's the summary...
Hellmuth raises from late position with big slick... (a little over 3 times the big blind, his standard raise...)
everyone else folds, big blind re-raises to 10 times the big blind....
Hellmuth gives him the stare for a bit and decides to call...
flop come K-x-x rainbow....
big blind checks...
Hellmuth thinks for a little bit.... and makes a minimal bet, about 25-30% of the pot...
big blind immediately re-raises to almost 100% of pot...
Hellmuth turns over to him, and says something like, "i have a feeling you have me beat... I almost folded before the flop..."
and he mucks top-pair, top-kicker with absolutely nothing else on the board....
lo and behold!, the big blind flips over pocket aces...
Hellmuth gets up, looks at the camera, points towards his wife.... and goes, "I can dodge bullets baby... !" (I was ready to cry...)
so anyway, from that day... my biggest dream has been to be able to make such outlandish lay downs with minimal fuss...
and i have made some good ones....
i am on the 2-5 table at the taj,
this guy just sits down... it's his first hand... he raises from middle position to $17...
everyone folds to me on the button... i look down at pocket queens... (beautiful sight)...
i re-raise to $55...
before i have put my bet in, he moves all in with his $300....
i give him a look... "all-in on your first hand...!?"
he says something like... "you must have had something since you re-raised me...."
right then and there, i knew...
i mucked em... face up...
and he turns over bullets...
i looked around for the camera as well as a wife looking person... didn't find either... so just sat down....
but now, i come to the hand that i actually wanted to discuss here.... (i wanted to give you context first... mostly so that i look less retarded...)
again at the taj, 1-2 table this time
guy sits down and raises from middle position to $15... his first hand...
one other person calls...
i look at my cards in the big blind, and look down at cowboys... raise it to $50
For those of you who don't know what i am talking about, here's the summary...
Hellmuth raises from late position with big slick... (a little over 3 times the big blind, his standard raise...)
everyone else folds, big blind re-raises to 10 times the big blind....
Hellmuth gives him the stare for a bit and decides to call...
flop come K-x-x rainbow....
big blind checks...
Hellmuth thinks for a little bit.... and makes a minimal bet, about 25-30% of the pot...
big blind immediately re-raises to almost 100% of pot...
Hellmuth turns over to him, and says something like, "i have a feeling you have me beat... I almost folded before the flop..."
and he mucks top-pair, top-kicker with absolutely nothing else on the board....
lo and behold!, the big blind flips over pocket aces...
Hellmuth gets up, looks at the camera, points towards his wife.... and goes, "I can dodge bullets baby... !" (I was ready to cry...)
so anyway, from that day... my biggest dream has been to be able to make such outlandish lay downs with minimal fuss...
and i have made some good ones....
i am on the 2-5 table at the taj,
this guy just sits down... it's his first hand... he raises from middle position to $17...
everyone folds to me on the button... i look down at pocket queens... (beautiful sight)...
i re-raise to $55...
before i have put my bet in, he moves all in with his $300....
i give him a look... "all-in on your first hand...!?"
he says something like... "you must have had something since you re-raised me...."
right then and there, i knew...
i mucked em... face up...
and he turns over bullets...
i looked around for the camera as well as a wife looking person... didn't find either... so just sat down....
but now, i come to the hand that i actually wanted to discuss here.... (i wanted to give you context first... mostly so that i look less retarded...)
again at the taj, 1-2 table this time
guy sits down and raises from middle position to $15... his first hand...
one other person calls...
i look at my cards in the big blind, and look down at cowboys... raise it to $50
he immediately calls... the other caller folds...
i check in the dark, hoping to see his reaction and then trap him...
flop comes 9-6-4 off suit...
he looks at me, and immediately goes all in with his $300 or so...
i think... and think... and think... and i Fold... announcing to the world that i had kings...
he looks at me... "you had KINGS ?!?!"
and he announces that he had queens...
i refused to believe that (for the next couple of months...)
needless to say, the rest of the night was miserable... i couldn't win a hand to save my life... everyone wanted to play against me... not a good feeling to have...
for the longest time, i couldn't believe it that he did not have aces, but after playing and replaying the hand in my head and the eventual conversations, i realize that he indeed had queens...
lessons for the future...
1- be willing to submit to the poker god's will if you get cowboys against aces... unless it's a tournament and you just don't wanna gamble with the big stack at the moment, always call with cowboys... 9 times out of 10, you'll win... the one time you do lose, the table will know that you are willing to go all the way... so they won't prey on you...
2- even if you are gonna fold a strong hand, never announce it... nothing good can ever come out of it... you might get momentary satisfaction if you are right, but it can only go against you... your opponents know that you have the ability to fold the second best hand, so if you are in... you must have the nuts... (of course you can use that to bluff, but the downside risk of being preyed upon is much more dangerous...)
The Best Call in the World
One of the first things I wrote about in this blog is that it is all about instinct... recently i saw a hand in the 2007 WSOP main event that i just have to mention here...
It's day 5, average chip stack is about 2.2 million... blinds at 30k-60k... i think 1k in antes...
this guy who's name i don't know, with 3+ million in chips , raises to 150k from middle position with A-10 off suit (both black)
everyone else folds but J.C. Tran is in the big blind with 8D -5 (black) and he somehow decides to call... he has about 2 million in chips...
flop comes 8-6-3 all hearts...
Tran checks...
the guy bets 350k...
Tran calls... (OK, top pair... the guy probably has high cards with a flush draw)
turn comes 2 of hearts...
Tran checks...
the guy bets 400k...
Tran gives this guy the look of death... or x-rays or whatever... and decides to call !
he has a pair of 8s with shit for kicker and the board has four hearts and the guy has raised pre-flop and has been betting throughout...
river comes another deuce (clubs i think)
the guy confidently bets 700k...
Tran has 1.4 million in chips left... and he goes into hogwarts or whatever magical place for a bit... muttering something like, "why did i think on the turn that i had you... i don't know..."
he looks at his stack... he would be pretty short stacked if he calls...
he goes... "this is would be the sickest call in the world... " (i totally agree...!)
goes into the magical place for a few seconds again...
and finally he calls! (after all, if he had him on the turn, the river couldn't possibly have helped the other guy... !)
the guy flips over his A-10 and is completely bamboozled when he sees Tran's 8-5 off suit with no heart... (i probably would have knelt to Tran's greatness, kissed his hand before shooting myself...)
Tran goes into hysteria... claiming he is the greatest... (i would be very tempted to agree for a moment, based on that hand...)
now lets think about it... Tran is no beginner... it's not like he didn't see the flush or was not aware of the fact that the other guy could easily have had 10-10... or a set of 6s... based on the way he lead the betting (the other guy bet four times for god's sake!)...
but he felt something on the flop, confirmed it (somehow!) on the turn... and then stuck with his guns on the river... if he was wrong, he would have been crippled... but he's a fighter... the dude worked in MacDonald's for years before turning to poker... he has nothing but his instincts... and if they fail him, so be it!
PS you can watch this hand on the WSOP episode shown on 09/25...
It's day 5, average chip stack is about 2.2 million... blinds at 30k-60k... i think 1k in antes...
this guy who's name i don't know, with 3+ million in chips , raises to 150k from middle position with A-10 off suit (both black)
everyone else folds but J.C. Tran is in the big blind with 8D -5 (black) and he somehow decides to call... he has about 2 million in chips...
flop comes 8-6-3 all hearts...
Tran checks...
the guy bets 350k...
Tran calls... (OK, top pair... the guy probably has high cards with a flush draw)
turn comes 2 of hearts...
Tran checks...
the guy bets 400k...
Tran gives this guy the look of death... or x-rays or whatever... and decides to call !
he has a pair of 8s with shit for kicker and the board has four hearts and the guy has raised pre-flop and has been betting throughout...
river comes another deuce (clubs i think)
the guy confidently bets 700k...
Tran has 1.4 million in chips left... and he goes into hogwarts or whatever magical place for a bit... muttering something like, "why did i think on the turn that i had you... i don't know..."
he looks at his stack... he would be pretty short stacked if he calls...
he goes... "this is would be the sickest call in the world... " (i totally agree...!)
goes into the magical place for a few seconds again...
and finally he calls! (after all, if he had him on the turn, the river couldn't possibly have helped the other guy... !)
the guy flips over his A-10 and is completely bamboozled when he sees Tran's 8-5 off suit with no heart... (i probably would have knelt to Tran's greatness, kissed his hand before shooting myself...)
Tran goes into hysteria... claiming he is the greatest... (i would be very tempted to agree for a moment, based on that hand...)
now lets think about it... Tran is no beginner... it's not like he didn't see the flush or was not aware of the fact that the other guy could easily have had 10-10... or a set of 6s... based on the way he lead the betting (the other guy bet four times for god's sake!)...
but he felt something on the flop, confirmed it (somehow!) on the turn... and then stuck with his guns on the river... if he was wrong, he would have been crippled... but he's a fighter... the dude worked in MacDonald's for years before turning to poker... he has nothing but his instincts... and if they fail him, so be it!
PS you can watch this hand on the WSOP episode shown on 09/25...
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Folding the Better Hand - an Exercise in Mental Toughness
How many times has it happened that you fold the better hand, the guy shows you the bluff and you piss off a good chunk of your remaining chips (if not all of them) over the next couple of hands, because you don't ever wanna get bluffed again...
or worse, the guy actually wasn't even trying to bluff but you just got scared of the straight or the flush and decided to fold anyway to a bet... and the night was just one misery after another, after that moment... i know i have had many of those nights...
But here's the thing... if there is one thing you need in poker (besides the ability to read people and being able to pull the trigger when you sense weakness), it is Mental Toughness...
mental toughness is the ability to move on from a bad beat, a bluff, a bad call, a busted straight flush draw.... and playing the next hand as if nothing happened...
it is perhaps one of the most complex qualities to master... in fact i don't personally know of anyone who doesn't get affected a little bit by all of the things i mentioned above... the best of them though accept it... take a break and lay low for a little... and then bounce back... !
Poker as i mentioned before, is not about one hand or a few isolated hands... it's a process of survival and elimination... if you survive, you live to play another hand...
of course in no limit, you can get busted on any one hand, but that's what you try to avoid... never go all-in unless you have the nuts or close to that, or you are bluffing... there is no point in making marginal calls at the risk of losing all your chips... i absolutely hate going all-in unless i have almost the nuts on the river or i am pretty sure that my opponent can't take the pressure and will fold his middle pair...
but back to mental toughness, the point is that bad beats and getting bluffed is part of the game and you have to be ready for them... most of all, don't let them affect your game for the rest of the session... no one can make a 100% correct calls... so it's OK if you fold the better hand once in a while... and please don't try to get back your money from the same person next time the same situation arises... he won the hand, you lost, move on... wait for a better situation, hopefully you'll get a chance to get back at him/her at some point... but even if you don't, it doesn't matter... as long as you keep playing your game and accumulating chips...
Hellmuth (he's my favorite player by the way) says, and i totally agree with him, if you can't occasionally fold the best hand, you'll never become a good or great poker player... there have been times when legendary pros folded cowboys pre-flop in three-way pots cuz they didn't want to risk jeopardizing their chip lead...
So here's an exercise that I suggest... i have done it many times myself... it's gonna sound insane, but just play along, you'll expand your mind in a whole different dimension...
next time you play, try this...
1- wait for a good hand e.g. pocket pair or AK, AQ etc.
2- raise to three times the big blind pre-flop
3- if the flop comes in your favor i.e. you get top pair or better, check... or FOLD if someone bets
4- on the turn check if no one bets... or FOLD if someone bets
5- on the river, check if no one bets... or FOLD if someone bets
after the hand, take a break and go outside to walk around for about 10-15 minutes or so... you'll feel a whole set of emotions... anger, frustration, self-doubt...
experience them in this controlled environment and bring yourself back to normal...
you'll see that the world does not come to end and you just took an immaterial hit, three big blinds... or even if you consider the opportunity cost, you could have won may be 10-15 big blinds... that's it... the night is still young, and now you have control over your emotions... perfect scenario to make some money....
or worse, the guy actually wasn't even trying to bluff but you just got scared of the straight or the flush and decided to fold anyway to a bet... and the night was just one misery after another, after that moment... i know i have had many of those nights...
But here's the thing... if there is one thing you need in poker (besides the ability to read people and being able to pull the trigger when you sense weakness), it is Mental Toughness...
mental toughness is the ability to move on from a bad beat, a bluff, a bad call, a busted straight flush draw.... and playing the next hand as if nothing happened...
it is perhaps one of the most complex qualities to master... in fact i don't personally know of anyone who doesn't get affected a little bit by all of the things i mentioned above... the best of them though accept it... take a break and lay low for a little... and then bounce back... !
Poker as i mentioned before, is not about one hand or a few isolated hands... it's a process of survival and elimination... if you survive, you live to play another hand...
of course in no limit, you can get busted on any one hand, but that's what you try to avoid... never go all-in unless you have the nuts or close to that, or you are bluffing... there is no point in making marginal calls at the risk of losing all your chips... i absolutely hate going all-in unless i have almost the nuts on the river or i am pretty sure that my opponent can't take the pressure and will fold his middle pair...
but back to mental toughness, the point is that bad beats and getting bluffed is part of the game and you have to be ready for them... most of all, don't let them affect your game for the rest of the session... no one can make a 100% correct calls... so it's OK if you fold the better hand once in a while... and please don't try to get back your money from the same person next time the same situation arises... he won the hand, you lost, move on... wait for a better situation, hopefully you'll get a chance to get back at him/her at some point... but even if you don't, it doesn't matter... as long as you keep playing your game and accumulating chips...
Hellmuth (he's my favorite player by the way) says, and i totally agree with him, if you can't occasionally fold the best hand, you'll never become a good or great poker player... there have been times when legendary pros folded cowboys pre-flop in three-way pots cuz they didn't want to risk jeopardizing their chip lead...
So here's an exercise that I suggest... i have done it many times myself... it's gonna sound insane, but just play along, you'll expand your mind in a whole different dimension...
next time you play, try this...
1- wait for a good hand e.g. pocket pair or AK, AQ etc.
2- raise to three times the big blind pre-flop
3- if the flop comes in your favor i.e. you get top pair or better, check... or FOLD if someone bets
4- on the turn check if no one bets... or FOLD if someone bets
5- on the river, check if no one bets... or FOLD if someone bets
after the hand, take a break and go outside to walk around for about 10-15 minutes or so... you'll feel a whole set of emotions... anger, frustration, self-doubt...
experience them in this controlled environment and bring yourself back to normal...
you'll see that the world does not come to end and you just took an immaterial hit, three big blinds... or even if you consider the opportunity cost, you could have won may be 10-15 big blinds... that's it... the night is still young, and now you have control over your emotions... perfect scenario to make some money....
Advice from the Pros
In the past couple of years, I must have read at least 20 or so books and watched similar number of DVDs from current and former greats that we all see on TV... Poker Brat, Kid Poker, Texas Dolly, TJ... everyone... not to mention the countless articles, columns, blogs on the net...
it seems that all of them are targeted at the absolute beginners... or may be the pros just don't want to tell you the real story... I don't know... but after contemplating and trying over and over again, I can tell you one thing for certain... if you strictly follow their advice, you'll game will definitely improve if you are an absolute beginner...
but pretty soon you'll hit your ceiling... don't get me wrong, they all say good stuff, play tight but aggressive, only play premium hands, use position etc... unfortunately, unless you have till eternity to wait for the premium hands in good position... and are fortunate enough that your opponents pay you off every time, you are not gonna get too far...
first of all, if there is one thing i know about poker, it is this... there are no absolutes in poker... no matter what anyone says, there is no one "right" way to play the game... and that's what makes the game so interesting... just like a tennis match or more like a boxing contest... there are certain basics in poker that you should observe in most situations...
keep your guard up and don't slack off on the table
don't play too many trash hands... a 9-2 off suit can only win so many times....
and so many other common sense things that you wouldn't do in day to day life anyway... (somehow a lot of people just go into some fantasy land when they sit at the poker table...)
but other than that, there are no absolutes... aces get cracked fairly often... big slick, supposedly the third or forth best starting hand in poker after A-A, K-K and Q-Q according to most pros, and you see so many people go all-in pre-flop with it... is merely a drawing hand which is generally slightly behind in any good contest i.e. against any pair... or is only a slight favorite against any two random cards... the point i am trying to make is that the so called "premium" hands are only premium pre-flop... and yes your chances of winning after the flop are higher if you only play premium hands, but you are missing the bigger picture by concentrating on the "premium-ness" of the hand...
what the pros actually do, is slug it out for small pots and wear the opponents down slowly... and then eventually the one big punch...
which is the part you see on tv by the way, I am sure you must have asked yourself something like "HE went (or called) ALL-IN with THAT ?!?!" specially in the WSOP or WPT... and you wonder, is this guy stupid or what... a 12 yr old knows you should fold 9-7 when all you have is middle pair...
what you don't get to see is how the poor guy was mentally demolished by the constant pressure and bluffs in the past 11 hands... every poker book tells you, the winning hand in poker is generally played way before the last hand... i am sure you must have experienced that yourself, i know i have... you get bluffed, then you make a stupid call and its all downhill from their... eventually you get busted for moving all in with A-3 when the board is K, 3, 2...
so what i am trying to say here is that the main idea of poker is to defeat the person... more like defeat them one person at a time and demolish the entire table... premium hands and pot odds are for people who don't know how to really play the game... (don't get upset, I used to be one of those people...) and that's what the pros want everyone to be... people who play the cards part of it... while they get to play the real game... you don't have to believe me, and it might not even be intentional on the part of the pros...
but i have to say, get over the Beginner section of poker as soon as possible... anything that the books tell you, is only gonna help you break even at best... get into the nuts and bolts of the game... it is as complex, unpredictable and beyond definition as human nature itself... after all you are not wrestling the guy's arm or competing with the strength in his shoulders... you are competing with his mind and spirit and that is something we have not been able to fully understand as yet... and as a consequence, we can not fully define the rule book for poker either...
it seems that all of them are targeted at the absolute beginners... or may be the pros just don't want to tell you the real story... I don't know... but after contemplating and trying over and over again, I can tell you one thing for certain... if you strictly follow their advice, you'll game will definitely improve if you are an absolute beginner...
but pretty soon you'll hit your ceiling... don't get me wrong, they all say good stuff, play tight but aggressive, only play premium hands, use position etc... unfortunately, unless you have till eternity to wait for the premium hands in good position... and are fortunate enough that your opponents pay you off every time, you are not gonna get too far...
first of all, if there is one thing i know about poker, it is this... there are no absolutes in poker... no matter what anyone says, there is no one "right" way to play the game... and that's what makes the game so interesting... just like a tennis match or more like a boxing contest... there are certain basics in poker that you should observe in most situations...
keep your guard up and don't slack off on the table
don't play too many trash hands... a 9-2 off suit can only win so many times....
and so many other common sense things that you wouldn't do in day to day life anyway... (somehow a lot of people just go into some fantasy land when they sit at the poker table...)
but other than that, there are no absolutes... aces get cracked fairly often... big slick, supposedly the third or forth best starting hand in poker after A-A, K-K and Q-Q according to most pros, and you see so many people go all-in pre-flop with it... is merely a drawing hand which is generally slightly behind in any good contest i.e. against any pair... or is only a slight favorite against any two random cards... the point i am trying to make is that the so called "premium" hands are only premium pre-flop... and yes your chances of winning after the flop are higher if you only play premium hands, but you are missing the bigger picture by concentrating on the "premium-ness" of the hand...
what the pros actually do, is slug it out for small pots and wear the opponents down slowly... and then eventually the one big punch...
which is the part you see on tv by the way, I am sure you must have asked yourself something like "HE went (or called) ALL-IN with THAT ?!?!" specially in the WSOP or WPT... and you wonder, is this guy stupid or what... a 12 yr old knows you should fold 9-7 when all you have is middle pair...
what you don't get to see is how the poor guy was mentally demolished by the constant pressure and bluffs in the past 11 hands... every poker book tells you, the winning hand in poker is generally played way before the last hand... i am sure you must have experienced that yourself, i know i have... you get bluffed, then you make a stupid call and its all downhill from their... eventually you get busted for moving all in with A-3 when the board is K, 3, 2...
so what i am trying to say here is that the main idea of poker is to defeat the person... more like defeat them one person at a time and demolish the entire table... premium hands and pot odds are for people who don't know how to really play the game... (don't get upset, I used to be one of those people...) and that's what the pros want everyone to be... people who play the cards part of it... while they get to play the real game... you don't have to believe me, and it might not even be intentional on the part of the pros...
but i have to say, get over the Beginner section of poker as soon as possible... anything that the books tell you, is only gonna help you break even at best... get into the nuts and bolts of the game... it is as complex, unpredictable and beyond definition as human nature itself... after all you are not wrestling the guy's arm or competing with the strength in his shoulders... you are competing with his mind and spirit and that is something we have not been able to fully understand as yet... and as a consequence, we can not fully define the rule book for poker either...
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Playing your hand blind
This is one of my most favorite things in poker... and it's not just me, Doyle Brunson recommends doing it once in a while as well... the main idea is to completely play your opponent and not your cards, and what better way to do that than play a complete hand without looking at your hole cards... I have done this many times and trust me, it's an experience you will never forget... not to mention the confidence you'll get if you actually win the pot...
Here's the deal... the first time you try this, wait for the following situation...
1) You are in the cut-off position (i.e. one before the dealer button)
2) Observe people as they look at their hole-cards and try to gauge the strength of their cards
3) If you feel that no one has anything too strong, and no one has raised the pot, raise slightly more than 3 times the big blind and watch everyone's reaction; specially those that call your bet
4) You will probably be the last to act, and so watch everyone's reaction after the flop and bet about 60-70% of the pot if everyone checks, or raise to three times the bet if someone makes a small bet.
Of course, if someone bets big or re-raises you, look at your cards and decide accordingly.
5) If no one raised you on the flop and there is only one or two people left in the hand, he/they will probably check to you on the turn, so bet about 30-40% of the pot, making it look like you want a call.
Once again, if someone has bet big on the turn or raises your bet, look at your hole cards and act accordingly.
6) If all goes well, you will just have one opponent (if any) left on the river, and if they check to you, bet 30-40% of the pot again. If they bet or raise you, it's again time to look at your hole cards and act accordingly.
In all likelihood, if your read was half-way correct, there won't be any showdown and you'll win the hand on the flop or on the turn...
If all else fails and you were wrong in reading your opponents, use this hand to throw them off, by turning over your cards and say something like... "you might have me..." or "can you beat 9 high ?" (this way they'll pay you off next time you do have a hand)
Try it again in a couple of hours...
As odd as it seems, playing a hand without looking at your hole cards does have a couple of advantages...
1) You don't know your cards, so there is no chance you are displaying any tells about the strength of your hand... so your opponents have no clue what you have... heck! YOU have no clue what you have, so how can they... and thus you have the fear of the unknown in your favor...
2) Since the board is almost meaningless to you, you are forced to focus on your opponents so you have a better chance of reading them...
and as a backup,
3) If your read was off, and you end up losing the hand, you can use this to show your opponents that you are capable of bluffing, so they have a tendency to pay you off more often...
And now the real test... try this from early position !
but only if you have done it successfully from late position a couple of times, and have won enough money already that losing 10-15 big blinds is not gonna kill you... think of it as tuition... cuz regardless of whether you win or lose, trust me, you'll learn a lot about poker from this little experiment...
Here's the deal... the first time you try this, wait for the following situation...
1) You are in the cut-off position (i.e. one before the dealer button)
2) Observe people as they look at their hole-cards and try to gauge the strength of their cards
3) If you feel that no one has anything too strong, and no one has raised the pot, raise slightly more than 3 times the big blind and watch everyone's reaction; specially those that call your bet
4) You will probably be the last to act, and so watch everyone's reaction after the flop and bet about 60-70% of the pot if everyone checks, or raise to three times the bet if someone makes a small bet.
Of course, if someone bets big or re-raises you, look at your cards and decide accordingly.
5) If no one raised you on the flop and there is only one or two people left in the hand, he/they will probably check to you on the turn, so bet about 30-40% of the pot, making it look like you want a call.
Once again, if someone has bet big on the turn or raises your bet, look at your hole cards and act accordingly.
6) If all goes well, you will just have one opponent (if any) left on the river, and if they check to you, bet 30-40% of the pot again. If they bet or raise you, it's again time to look at your hole cards and act accordingly.
In all likelihood, if your read was half-way correct, there won't be any showdown and you'll win the hand on the flop or on the turn...
If all else fails and you were wrong in reading your opponents, use this hand to throw them off, by turning over your cards and say something like... "you might have me..." or "can you beat 9 high ?" (this way they'll pay you off next time you do have a hand)
Try it again in a couple of hours...
As odd as it seems, playing a hand without looking at your hole cards does have a couple of advantages...
1) You don't know your cards, so there is no chance you are displaying any tells about the strength of your hand... so your opponents have no clue what you have... heck! YOU have no clue what you have, so how can they... and thus you have the fear of the unknown in your favor...
2) Since the board is almost meaningless to you, you are forced to focus on your opponents so you have a better chance of reading them...
and as a backup,
3) If your read was off, and you end up losing the hand, you can use this to show your opponents that you are capable of bluffing, so they have a tendency to pay you off more often...
And now the real test... try this from early position !
but only if you have done it successfully from late position a couple of times, and have won enough money already that losing 10-15 big blinds is not gonna kill you... think of it as tuition... cuz regardless of whether you win or lose, trust me, you'll learn a lot about poker from this little experiment...
Bluffing - Why, When, How...
No matter what anyone says about it, bluffing is an integral part of the game... I will go as far as saying that bluffing is just as important as knowing how to play strong hands... no good player in the world ever got anywhere without knowing how and when to effectively bluff... cards are dealt randomly, you might have good days and bad days (or weeks or months) but in the long run, you can not win on the basis of good cards alone (of course you can lose on the basis of cards alone cuz people fold when you have a strong hand)... randomness dictates that some days you'll be the windscreen and some days you'll be the bug i.e. people will walk into your monsters and you will walk into people's monsters, but neither will happen consistently forever...
statistically speaking, everything in this world is normally distributed i.e. most stuff in the middle, some really good stuff at one end and some really bad shit on the other end... but very importantly, most stuff is in the middle... you have middle pair good kicker, some guy has top pair shitty kicker, some dude has the straight draw... and even that's only half of the time... about one third of the time, no one really has anything at all...
so the key to making money at poker is to make the most out of your good hands, "steal" some or most of the middle stuff and try not to lose too much money when shit hits the fan i.e. situations when you find yourself repeating the same question in your head, "what are the chances that he has a flush when I made my set... ?" (answer: no one cares... if you think he has made the flush... fold the damn set and wait for a better spot... or would you rather lose the rest of your $400 in chips for the $140 in the pot?) of course if you can bluff someone out of a decent hand like pocket pairs e.g. 9-9, 10-10 or (top pair-weak kicker), all the better...
In order to pull off a successful bluff, you have to tell your opponents a story that they can believe... like a good magic trick, you take your audience's mind (in this case your opponent's) on a path and then just leave em there... hanging, confused and scared... here's an example...
so you have been playing tight for the past hour or so...
1) raise pre-flop to 3.5 times the big blind... (he has something!)
2) check (or check and then smoothly call) on the flop... (did he miss it and is not sure ? or did he hit in a big way and is trying to trap ?)
3) bet about 25%-30% of the pot on the turn (or again smoothly call if you are second to act or your opponent bets)... (he has a monster !? or is he just trying to steal the pot now ?)
4) and then bet about 50-70% of the pot on the river, preferably just about 40-60% of your opponents stack... (OK, I think he had the monster all along... or may be he didn't, I don't know but this is a little too much money to be catching bluffs and I have a feeling something fishy is going on and I might be getting trapped by this "please call me" kind of bet on the river...)
important: don't say a word during the hand, and take a sip of your drink or act like you are adjusting your chair... the idea is to appear completely comfortable during the hand...
also, the biggest difference most often between a genius bluff and the idiot throwing money away, is the third bullet... can you fire the appropriate third bullet on the river... ?
a lot of people raise pre-flop, then bet the flop and get called, try meekly on the turn and when they get called, they just shut down on the river... try firing on the river, and you'll be surprised how many times you succeed... but more importantly, bet on the river because it is the "right" thing to do... it is the right thing to do for three main reasons,
1- If you don't, there is no way in hell you are gonna win that pot... the other guy has something which is most likely better than your 5-6 suited that completely missed... (you now have a six high)
2- Even if you are not gonna make a big bet (i.e. 50-7 0% of the pot), fire at least 25-30% of the pot... there is always a 50% chance that your opponent will fold... and if you win half and lose half of these pots for 25-30% of the pot, that's a bargain... and
3- Even if you lose this additional 30% of the pot, it will work in your favor when you actually do have a hand... they might even raise you next time when you do have a hand, and you'll get paid off well...
statistically speaking, everything in this world is normally distributed i.e. most stuff in the middle, some really good stuff at one end and some really bad shit on the other end... but very importantly, most stuff is in the middle... you have middle pair good kicker, some guy has top pair shitty kicker, some dude has the straight draw... and even that's only half of the time... about one third of the time, no one really has anything at all...
so the key to making money at poker is to make the most out of your good hands, "steal" some or most of the middle stuff and try not to lose too much money when shit hits the fan i.e. situations when you find yourself repeating the same question in your head, "what are the chances that he has a flush when I made my set... ?" (answer: no one cares... if you think he has made the flush... fold the damn set and wait for a better spot... or would you rather lose the rest of your $400 in chips for the $140 in the pot?) of course if you can bluff someone out of a decent hand like pocket pairs e.g. 9-9, 10-10 or (top pair-weak kicker), all the better...
In order to pull off a successful bluff, you have to tell your opponents a story that they can believe... like a good magic trick, you take your audience's mind (in this case your opponent's) on a path and then just leave em there... hanging, confused and scared... here's an example...
so you have been playing tight for the past hour or so...
1) raise pre-flop to 3.5 times the big blind... (he has something!)
2) check (or check and then smoothly call) on the flop... (did he miss it and is not sure ? or did he hit in a big way and is trying to trap ?)
3) bet about 25%-30% of the pot on the turn (or again smoothly call if you are second to act or your opponent bets)... (he has a monster !? or is he just trying to steal the pot now ?)
4) and then bet about 50-70% of the pot on the river, preferably just about 40-60% of your opponents stack... (OK, I think he had the monster all along... or may be he didn't, I don't know but this is a little too much money to be catching bluffs and I have a feeling something fishy is going on and I might be getting trapped by this "please call me" kind of bet on the river...)
important: don't say a word during the hand, and take a sip of your drink or act like you are adjusting your chair... the idea is to appear completely comfortable during the hand...
also, the biggest difference most often between a genius bluff and the idiot throwing money away, is the third bullet... can you fire the appropriate third bullet on the river... ?
a lot of people raise pre-flop, then bet the flop and get called, try meekly on the turn and when they get called, they just shut down on the river... try firing on the river, and you'll be surprised how many times you succeed... but more importantly, bet on the river because it is the "right" thing to do... it is the right thing to do for three main reasons,
1- If you don't, there is no way in hell you are gonna win that pot... the other guy has something which is most likely better than your 5-6 suited that completely missed... (you now have a six high)
2- Even if you are not gonna make a big bet (i.e. 50-7 0% of the pot), fire at least 25-30% of the pot... there is always a 50% chance that your opponent will fold... and if you win half and lose half of these pots for 25-30% of the pot, that's a bargain... and
3- Even if you lose this additional 30% of the pot, it will work in your favor when you actually do have a hand... they might even raise you next time when you do have a hand, and you'll get paid off well...
Pick your Opponents and Pick your Spots
Whether it's a cash game or a tournament, always remember that there is no need to wage war on everyone over everything at the same time... the primary objective of the game is to gather those precious chips... and in order to do that, you need to get involved in the right hands... a "right hand" is when you have some kind of advantage over your opponent(s)... there are only four advantages you can have in any particular hand,
1- you are the "better" player...
2- you have better position
3- you have better cards
4- you have much more chips
I put them in that order for a reason... of all the things in the world, I would take skill over anything... if you have the better read on your opponent and have the heart to pull the trigger at the right moment, sooner or later you will prevail...
with equal or slightly lesser cards, position will be key... it's easier to raise or bluff in late position...
good (or better than your opponent) cards are always nice to have... but you gotta play em right...
and it can never hurt to have a big chip stack... you can afford to make mistakes, your opponent can not...
In any given hand, you wanna have as many advantages as possible... there is absolutely no need to get involved with a big stack who has been making plays at everyone, when you have a K-J off suit or a pair of 6s... wait for a better hand... why take the risk unless it's absolutely necessary...
what you ought to be doing instead, is trying to get involved in as many hands as possible, with the weak player or the short stack.... specially when you have a decent hand...
pick off on the smaller enemies first and destroy them completely... not only will you get chips, you will also build an image of ruthlessness, which will come in handy when you go against the big boys...
and how do you spot the weaker player... ? as the saying goes, if you don't know who the sucker is, YOU are the sucker... (had to throw that in...)
on a more serious tone, look for the guys who are obviously out of place... the old dude avoiding eye contact, the drunk kid who's been up for 35 hours, the guy who's hands shake when he has A-Q, the lady trying to fit in with the boys, the tourist who's just trying it out and buys in for the absolute minimum (or close to that) every 45 minutes...
Don't take this to mean that I am asking you to avoid confrontation... just that you should know what your strength is in each particular situation... why do you need to bluff the bluffer, after all that's his strength... let him bluff you and wait for the hand and nail him in one punch i.e. slow play a monster; play it the same way you hesitantly played top pair the last three times and he bluffed you two out of those three times...
1- you are the "better" player...
2- you have better position
3- you have better cards
4- you have much more chips
I put them in that order for a reason... of all the things in the world, I would take skill over anything... if you have the better read on your opponent and have the heart to pull the trigger at the right moment, sooner or later you will prevail...
with equal or slightly lesser cards, position will be key... it's easier to raise or bluff in late position...
good (or better than your opponent) cards are always nice to have... but you gotta play em right...
and it can never hurt to have a big chip stack... you can afford to make mistakes, your opponent can not...
In any given hand, you wanna have as many advantages as possible... there is absolutely no need to get involved with a big stack who has been making plays at everyone, when you have a K-J off suit or a pair of 6s... wait for a better hand... why take the risk unless it's absolutely necessary...
what you ought to be doing instead, is trying to get involved in as many hands as possible, with the weak player or the short stack.... specially when you have a decent hand...
pick off on the smaller enemies first and destroy them completely... not only will you get chips, you will also build an image of ruthlessness, which will come in handy when you go against the big boys...
and how do you spot the weaker player... ? as the saying goes, if you don't know who the sucker is, YOU are the sucker... (had to throw that in...)
on a more serious tone, look for the guys who are obviously out of place... the old dude avoiding eye contact, the drunk kid who's been up for 35 hours, the guy who's hands shake when he has A-Q, the lady trying to fit in with the boys, the tourist who's just trying it out and buys in for the absolute minimum (or close to that) every 45 minutes...
Don't take this to mean that I am asking you to avoid confrontation... just that you should know what your strength is in each particular situation... why do you need to bluff the bluffer, after all that's his strength... let him bluff you and wait for the hand and nail him in one punch i.e. slow play a monster; play it the same way you hesitantly played top pair the last three times and he bluffed you two out of those three times...
Table Image
The main idea behind poker is to force/tempt/trick your opponents into making mistakes....
the ideal day in poker is not the day when you hit straight flushes and quads every other hand....
the ideal day in poker is the day, when they fold (middle-pair, decent-kicker) or (top-pair, shitty-kicker) when you have 6-high.... and they call with ace-high or middle-pair when you have the nuts or something very close to the nuts...
Why? because they have no clue as to what you have and they are absolutely clueless as to what your bets meant...
How ? table image baby... of the ten players on the table, the one you know the most, is YOU... and the one player that you can control the most, is YOU...
(if you don't know yourself or how you play poker and have no control over your playing style... stop wasting your money... come back to the table when you do know yourself better and can control your play somewhat... if you need help, ask some of your fellow players what they think about your game and request them to be honest... of course it helps if they are good friends with you, so they will actually give you honest feedback... and whatever they say, consider it thoroughly...)
Table image is playing tight initially and folding marginal hands even though you think you were ahead... (and basically trying to assess how good your read is on that day, on that table, without losing too much money)
and then once they think you are a tight but somewhat weak player... use that information and stick it to them... raise from late position (and occasionally from early position) with suited connectors... and the pot is yours either way... if high cards hit, they all think you have em cuz you play nothing but high cards... and if low cards hit... even better... you will get highly rewarded for your two-pair or straight... just be watchful and keep an eye out for the real tight player who might actually have flopped a monster... even if you lose, don't muck your cards... show them and say i was just messing with you...
go back to playing tight for a bit, cuz wether you lost and showed or won and had to show... they will call you down next time you raise no matter what they have or what they think you have... so don't bluff for a little while... and re-build that image you had before... now you have created doubt in everyone's mind... you are capable of making a move... play tight for about 30 minutes or so, and then raise or re-raise on a draw...
it's a dangerous game, yes, you can lose a lot of money if things go wrong... but if you can't push yourself and others to the wire and don't like risks and pressure but still want to play poker... that's like being a doctor who can not stand the sight of blood... it is impossible to make money by just playing the "cards-part" of poker.... after all everyone has the same chance of getting good cards... why should you be luckier than the next guy ?
always remember though, cliche' as it may be, "fortune favors the bold"...
the ideal day in poker is not the day when you hit straight flushes and quads every other hand....
the ideal day in poker is the day, when they fold (middle-pair, decent-kicker) or (top-pair, shitty-kicker) when you have 6-high.... and they call with ace-high or middle-pair when you have the nuts or something very close to the nuts...
Why? because they have no clue as to what you have and they are absolutely clueless as to what your bets meant...
How ? table image baby... of the ten players on the table, the one you know the most, is YOU... and the one player that you can control the most, is YOU...
(if you don't know yourself or how you play poker and have no control over your playing style... stop wasting your money... come back to the table when you do know yourself better and can control your play somewhat... if you need help, ask some of your fellow players what they think about your game and request them to be honest... of course it helps if they are good friends with you, so they will actually give you honest feedback... and whatever they say, consider it thoroughly...)
Table image is playing tight initially and folding marginal hands even though you think you were ahead... (and basically trying to assess how good your read is on that day, on that table, without losing too much money)
and then once they think you are a tight but somewhat weak player... use that information and stick it to them... raise from late position (and occasionally from early position) with suited connectors... and the pot is yours either way... if high cards hit, they all think you have em cuz you play nothing but high cards... and if low cards hit... even better... you will get highly rewarded for your two-pair or straight... just be watchful and keep an eye out for the real tight player who might actually have flopped a monster... even if you lose, don't muck your cards... show them and say i was just messing with you...
go back to playing tight for a bit, cuz wether you lost and showed or won and had to show... they will call you down next time you raise no matter what they have or what they think you have... so don't bluff for a little while... and re-build that image you had before... now you have created doubt in everyone's mind... you are capable of making a move... play tight for about 30 minutes or so, and then raise or re-raise on a draw...
it's a dangerous game, yes, you can lose a lot of money if things go wrong... but if you can't push yourself and others to the wire and don't like risks and pressure but still want to play poker... that's like being a doctor who can not stand the sight of blood... it is impossible to make money by just playing the "cards-part" of poker.... after all everyone has the same chance of getting good cards... why should you be luckier than the next guy ?
always remember though, cliche' as it may be, "fortune favors the bold"...
Chasing vs. Betting Draws
In a no-limit game, never chase draws... probability means nothing in a one-off hand (because any good opponent will always make you pay dearly for drawing the next card)... the key assumption in probability calculations is that you can repeate the same hand over and over again... i.e. you are a computer who will play the same hand the same way infinitely... are you ?
so who cares, about the long run... if someone is willing to give you a free card or it's gonna cost way less than the price... (e.g. $5-10 into a $200 pot when you have a 10% chance of making the nuts... or $20-25 into $150 pot when you have a 40% chance of winning the pot), take that as a sign of weakness...
why not raise and give yourself two chances to win the pot... (one chance if the opponent folds, and second chance if you hit your draw)
think of it this way.... in a one-off hand, the probability of hitting your cards is actually %50 of what the long run probability is... (you have no way of knowing whether this particular hand will conform to long run averages or not)
put another way, are you gonna intentionally drive your mercedes into a wall at 30 mph because test results show that you'll probably survive the crash...
you are either ahead or you are behind in that hand, and that's all that matters... there is no prize in poker for being statistically correct in one hand... unless you have an infinite bank roll and are willing to play infinite hands exactly the same way... i.e. you are a casino... us players don't have the luxury to risk our minuscule bank rolls on long-term averages...
and remember... no good poker player will pay you off too much when you do hit your draw... may be a small value bet on the river... may be... it is so obvious when people are chasing draws... it might work in limit games (or when you play with complete idiots) but not in no limit baby... so in no limit games, you will lose money if you chase...
if you are gonna play draws... always use the draw as the backup plan while you are bluffing your opponent... don't be the chaser throughout the hand... always try to check raise if in early position, and if you are in late position and your opponent checks, bet small and re-raise if you get raised... if nothing else, it will make it look like you have a monster and you are simply value betting...
if you get called and lose money on that hand... DO NOT worry at all... your opponents will pay you off handsomely next time you do have a hand... which will be the case about once an hour or so....
so who cares, about the long run... if someone is willing to give you a free card or it's gonna cost way less than the price... (e.g. $5-10 into a $200 pot when you have a 10% chance of making the nuts... or $20-25 into $150 pot when you have a 40% chance of winning the pot), take that as a sign of weakness...
why not raise and give yourself two chances to win the pot... (one chance if the opponent folds, and second chance if you hit your draw)
think of it this way.... in a one-off hand, the probability of hitting your cards is actually %50 of what the long run probability is... (you have no way of knowing whether this particular hand will conform to long run averages or not)
put another way, are you gonna intentionally drive your mercedes into a wall at 30 mph because test results show that you'll probably survive the crash...
you are either ahead or you are behind in that hand, and that's all that matters... there is no prize in poker for being statistically correct in one hand... unless you have an infinite bank roll and are willing to play infinite hands exactly the same way... i.e. you are a casino... us players don't have the luxury to risk our minuscule bank rolls on long-term averages...
and remember... no good poker player will pay you off too much when you do hit your draw... may be a small value bet on the river... may be... it is so obvious when people are chasing draws... it might work in limit games (or when you play with complete idiots) but not in no limit baby... so in no limit games, you will lose money if you chase...
if you are gonna play draws... always use the draw as the backup plan while you are bluffing your opponent... don't be the chaser throughout the hand... always try to check raise if in early position, and if you are in late position and your opponent checks, bet small and re-raise if you get raised... if nothing else, it will make it look like you have a monster and you are simply value betting...
if you get called and lose money on that hand... DO NOT worry at all... your opponents will pay you off handsomely next time you do have a hand... which will be the case about once an hour or so....
Betting after the flop
Always find out where you stand... specially if you have something like a pocket pair or you hit middle pair... don't bet, check-raise... check-raising is a much better way to find out how strong the other person's hand really is...
when you bet, you give information about your own hand, and someone can raise you to put pressure on you... when you check raise, you already have information about your opponents hand, and now the pressure is on them...
only bet in early position if you are willing to re-raise if someone raises you... it feels good to call someone down and win the hand in a showdown... but why would you want to
1- be the one who always has to make the right decision.
2- give the person a chance to out draw you.
as TJ says... " the players come over the top baby!"
when you bet, you give information about your own hand, and someone can raise you to put pressure on you... when you check raise, you already have information about your opponents hand, and now the pressure is on them...
only bet in early position if you are willing to re-raise if someone raises you... it feels good to call someone down and win the hand in a showdown... but why would you want to
1- be the one who always has to make the right decision.
2- give the person a chance to out draw you.
as TJ says... " the players come over the top baby!"
Value of the hand
Always remind yourself of the "value" of your hand... don't get married to it... a pair of tens is a pair of tens and a pair of kings is a pair of kings... bet and raise accordingly... so what if you have an over-pair to the board... tens are still tens... someone could be slow playing jacks... occasionally, think of a pocket-pair as holding top-pair, top-kicker...
Instinct
Trust your instincts... ALWAYS trust your instincts... you have nothing but your instincts... no amount of pot-odds or luck will save you if you don't go with your instincts...
occasionally you will be wrong and you will lose... but so what... learn from your mistake and move-on... no one in this world is always right... the difference between the winners and the quitters is that the winners pick themselves up and do the same thing all over again with the same amount of confidence and conviction...
and yes, some people are born with better instincts and some have to work on it... but that's like everything else in life... at the end of the day, the winners are always from the group who continue to improve and challenge themselves... so do not let short-term emotions and setbacks dictate your attitude and confidence... live by the sword and die by the sword...
occasionally you will be wrong and you will lose... but so what... learn from your mistake and move-on... no one in this world is always right... the difference between the winners and the quitters is that the winners pick themselves up and do the same thing all over again with the same amount of confidence and conviction...
and yes, some people are born with better instincts and some have to work on it... but that's like everything else in life... at the end of the day, the winners are always from the group who continue to improve and challenge themselves... so do not let short-term emotions and setbacks dictate your attitude and confidence... live by the sword and die by the sword...
New Table
Always take it slow when you first sit down... specially in a cash game... there is no hurry... doesn't matter if you fold a couple of hands early-on when you were actually ahead... wait till you get a read on the other players before you take a stand with top-pair...
poker is a war... losing a few early battles is immaterial as long as you don't let it affect your confidence...
it actually helps to have a semi-weak table image at first, cuz people will give you action in hopes of getting you off a hand...
poker is a war... losing a few early battles is immaterial as long as you don't let it affect your confidence...
it actually helps to have a semi-weak table image at first, cuz people will give you action in hopes of getting you off a hand...
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